President Michel Sleiman of Lebanon urged Christians not to seek protection in foreign powers, autocratic regimes, or alliances with other minorities, the Beirut-based Daily Star and the Fides news agency reported.

In his November 15 address, President Sleiman, a Maronite Catholic, also warned against temptations to assimilation and isolationism.

Instead, he said, Catholics should focus on following the guidance of Blessed John Paul II’s 1997 apostolic exhortation on Lebanon and Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic exhortation on the Church in the Middle East.

“We should apply the apostolic exhortations rather than trying other ways, other mechanisms, and other projects,” the president said.

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